Deviled Pepperoni Eggs

Dear Lauren,

I love Cook My Book. Just love it! I feel like I am constantly taking a cooking class as I read through yet another cookbook. The one I have right now is from my friend, Linda. It's the Carla Hall book, Cooking with Love. You may know Carla, but I didn't and as I read through the comments written on the pages of this cookbook by the others cooking in our club, I realized that everyone seems to know Carla Hall! Why don't I? So, I read her bio and it's obvious to me I need to start watching Top Chef and The Chew. Seriously, I need to get with the program!

As I thumbed through this book, I could not believe how many of the recipes had been cooked and written about. I felt sorry for the first recipe though, no one had made it! So I decided to and it was such a hardship for me - deviled eggs - lol! I love making new deviled egg recipes, not just because of the deviled egg eating that follows, but also because the authors usually write in their own spin on how to boil an egg. Carla's worked perfectly and it didn't take much time at all!


She also gives several other tips, like putting dried black beans on a plate to serve. I only had pintos, but I loved how they looked and they kept the eggs in place on a flat dish. I have an egg plate, but it's big and round and the idea of not using it every single time I make deviled eggs is great. Unfortunately, as great as the bean idea is, in reality it didn't work out too well for me. When people picked up the eggs, there were pintos stuck to the bottom or side and, although none ended up in their mouths, all I could think of were broken teeth.

I did love Carla's tip about cutting a tiny slice off the top and bottom of the egg to get it to stand on it's own! Worked like a charm!

So where did the pepperoni come in? Carla's recipe calls for bacon. I would never tell you NOT to use bacon. But shockingly, I had no bacon today, not even in the freezer! I did have medium and tiny pepperoni, so I made both and alternated them on top of the eggs as you can see. I'm interested in hearing what you think of the tiny pepperonis, because they were really easy! No fuss or muss or mess!

I made these in the morning to serve that night. I took bets - would I make it all day without eating one before serving them? No one bet I could do it. I cheated a little because I HAD to know if the pepperoni worked with the yolk mixture, so I put a dot of the yolk filling on my finger and put a mini pepperoni on top and licked it right off. It was awesome. Pepperoni works.

Deviled Pepperoni Eggs

adapted from Carla Hall's recipe for Down-Home Deviled Eggs with Smokey Bacon in her book Cooking with Love

24 mini pepperonis or 12 medium size pepperonis

12 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon vinegar

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Colman's mustard 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

freshly ground pepper and kosher salt, to taste

dried beans, to serve (optional)

Boiling eggs:

Put 12 cold eggs and a Tablespoon of salt in a saucepan and cold water to cover them by 1 inch. Enough water is crucial so if you need a larger pan, use one. Over high heat, bring the eggs to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat. Cover the saucepan with a lid and set your timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, fill a large bowl with cold water. Take an egg out of the hot water and gently roll the egg on the counter, cracking the shell. Then place it in the bowl of water and repeat for all of the eggs. Set the timer for 3 minutes. Take each egg out of the cold water bowl and peel them. The purpose of cracking the eggs and putting then in the water is to allow the water to seep into the membrane of the egg and make it easier to peel. 

Cook the pepperoni:

Cover a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and place the pepperoni in a single layer. I bake them from a cold oven set at 400°F until I can just begin to smell them cooking. This is about 10 minutes, but to be safe - we don't want burnt pepperoni - check every few minutes.

To make the deviled eggs:

This is a cool trick to get each half-egg to stand on it's own. Cut a tiny slice off the top and bottom of the egg first and discard those tiny slices eat those tiny slices right then and there. Cut each egg in half. If you pinch the cut egg between your thumb and forefinger and gently give it a little wiggle, the yolk should pop right out. Place all of the yolks on a dinner plate. Give the egg whites a little rinse to clean them up and place them cut-side down on paper towels to dry.

I like to use a dinner plate instead of a bowl  to mash the yolks because it makes mashing them a little easier. Mash the yolks with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir and mash until very smooth. Get a small Ziploc bag and turn it inside out. Scoop up every last bit of the egg yolk mixture and put it on one side of the bottom on the Ziploc bag. Carefully turn the back right side again and clip a very small bit of the bottom corner of the bag off. You have made yourself a little DIY pastry bag and this will make your eggs clean and pretty. 

If you're using dried beans - don't use them - see the P.P.S. below, put them on a tray and place the egg whites in a pleasing pattern on the beans. Pipe the yolk mixture into the egg white cups and top with pepperoni. Serve. 

Love,

P.S. Did I make it until serving time without eating one of these? I did. I can't believe I did, but I did! I would not recommend you do that, of course. If you make these in the morning, eat a few, and then refrigerate the rest until later.

P.P.S. The bean on the plate idea? I talked about it in a cooking group I'm in and another cook said she uses shredded red and green cabbage for the same purpose! I love it! No broken teeth!